Working Together To Tackle Loneliness
Find out more about how we can tackle loneliness in this free webinar.
Location
OnlineTime
1pm - 2pm-
Date
Thu 23 Oct 2025
Loneliness is a subjective, unpleasant or distressing feeling of a lack of connection to others, alongside a desire for more, or more fulfilling social relationships. It is a common experience across the life course and when loneliness is experienced persistently it can have a negative impact on health and wellbeing.
This free webinar will examine the evidence about the prevalence of loneliness, which population groups are more likely to experience loneliness and consider practical strategies for reducing loneliness in the population. We will also hear about interventions and approaches that can improve the lives of those living with loneliness.
This webinar is supported by the Philipp Family Foundation.
Speakers
William Roberts
Chief Executive
William has been a senior leader in the NHS across roles in…
William Roberts
Chief Executive
William has been a senior leader in the NHS across roles in public health, commissioning, strategy, transformation and planning. He is a registered nurse who has worked in both hospital and community services, and as a nurse specialist in tuberculosis and HIV.
William is a Non-Executive Director of Housing 21 and a Non- Executive Director of POBL a Welsh housing and care provider and was previously Deputy Chair at Terrence Higgins Trust. He brings a wealth of experience across public health and inequalities from the healthcare, charity sector, social care, housing, local government and further education.
Dr Helen MacIntyre
Speaker
Research and Development Manager, Neighbourly Lab Helen …
Dr Helen MacIntyre
Speaker
Research and Development Manager, Neighbourly Lab
Helen is an experienced social researcher with expertise on loneliness and social connection who has worked within and beyond academia. Her academic work has focused on children and young people’s social experience and peer relationships at school.
Helen was Head of Evidence at the Campaign to End Loneliness from 2022-24 and worked on addressing loneliness through the built environment and an evaluation of tackling loneliness interventions. Prior to that, Helen worked as Research and Learning Lead for Ageing Better in Camden, researching and writing about very practical solutions to tackling social isolation and loneliness among older people.
Recently, Helen has been involved in developing approaches for tackling loneliness in community settings, universities and schools and has also written ‘A brief guide to loneliness among young people and children at school’ with colleagues at Queen Mary University of London.
Harry Hobson
Speaker
Co founder & Director, Neighbourly Lab Harry co-founded…
Harry Hobson
Speaker
Co founder & Director, Neighbourly Lab
Harry co-founded Neighbourly Lab in 2019 to address the question of: how can we reimagine our communities to help people foster meaningful connections?
With a background in strategy consulting, innovation, and entrepreneurship, Harry’s role at Neighbourly Lab focuses on maximising our organisation’s impact whilst building meaningful partnerships with clients and funders to accelerate our mission. Harry is also dedicated to fostering collaboration among funders, charities, businesses, and government to invest in long-term social infrastructure and is deeply involved in supporting local government leaders as they work to build more connected and resilient communities.
Additionally, Harry is exploring the development of tools and technology that can help specific population groups that face challenges in building or maintaining social capital, such as; newcomers to an area or individuals with social anxiety brought on by ASD or other cognitive traits. Harry is also committed to finding strategies that increase social opportunities for those most susceptible to chronic loneliness, ensuring that their individual needs and challenges are met with innovative and inclusive solutions.
Helayna Jenkins
Speaker
Principal Loneliness Champion, London Borough of Bromley …
Helayna Jenkins
Speaker
Principal Loneliness Champion, London Borough of Bromley
Helayna is an Incorporated Geotechnical Engineer, with around a decade’s experience working in the construction industry.
Since 2022, Helayna has been helping to shape local society as Principal Loneliness Champion using her ‘problem solving skills’ in a way, to bring people of all ages, stages of life and backgrounds together. Helayna and many others in the London Borough of Bromley are helping to increase social connection opportunities and reduce the stigma of loneliness and isolation.
Professor Andrea Wigfield
Speaker
Director of the Centre for Loneliness Studies, Sheffield Ha…
Professor Andrea Wigfield
Speaker
Director of the Centre for Loneliness Studies, Sheffield Hallam University
Andrea established the Centre for Loneliness Studies in 2017 and prior to that was Director of a number of research centres, within academia at the Universities of Sheffield and Leeds, and in the private sector at the Policy Evaluation Group. Andrea has a longstanding interest in marginalised groups facing adversity and has carried out research to understand their everyday lived experiences and evaluations to explore the effectiveness of interventions to support them. She is currently interested in loneliness across the life-course, particularly in meaningful relationships and the wider societal determinants and policy implications. She has led a number of research projects and evaluations on loneliness and social isolation and supervised PhD students to successful completion.